Melbourne, feb 13: England's four-month cricket tour of Australia ended in humiliating defeat here today as Australia surged to a massive 162-run victory in the second final match to win the triangular One-Day Series.Australia, captained by Shane Warne in the absence of injured Steve Waugh, ensured there would not be a third final tomorrow when they skittled Alec Stewart's men for a paltry 110 in reply to the home team's 272 for five off 50 overs.England, who also lost the Ashes Test series 3-1 last month, never recovered from a horror start in which they buckled to 13 for four in the fourth over.In an anti-climax before a below-par MCG crowd of 20,413, Australia cruised to their 12th victory in the home triangular series since the launching of the tournament 20 years ago.It was England's second heaviest one-day rout, only failing by two runs to eclipse their worst loss, a 164-run mauling in the West Indies five years ago.The only consolation for England was their star batsman Greame Hick being namedas joint man of the series along with Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath.Australia's win was a triumph for acting skipper Shane Warne who led the side intuitively in the absence of Waugh, who was earlier this week installed as Australia's new permanent skipper following the retirement of Mark Taylor.It was a depressing end to an arduous four-month tour for England, who return home next week empty-handed after Australia successfully defended the Ashes for the fifth time as well as winning the one day trophy for the fifth time in six years.Earlier, Darren Lehmann hit a defiant 71 to lead Australia to an impressive 272 for five. Lehmann, left out of the Australian squad for the forthcoming tour of West Indies, was the top scorer for the Australians on a damp Melbourne Cricket Ground.His runs came off 75 balls, while Damien Martyn (57) and Adam Gilchrist (52) made valuable contributions to help steer Australia into a strong position.SCOREBOARDAustralia: A Gilchrist c Knight b Croft 52,M Waugh c Hick b Gough 1, R Ponting c Fairbrother b A Hollioake 37, D Lehmann c Hussain b Wells 71, D Martyn b Mullally 57, S Law not out 20, S Lee not out 20. Extras (lb10, w3, nb1): 14.Total (for five wickets, 50 overs): 272.Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-92, 3-104, 4-216, 5-244.Bowling: Gough 9-1-55-1 (nb-1), Mullally 10-1-53-1 (w1), Ealham 6-0-41-0 (w1), Wells 5-0-34-1, Croft 10-0-40-1 (w1), Hollioake 10-0-39-1.England: N Knight run out 4, A Stewart c Lee b Julian 32, G Hick c Dale b McGrath 0, N Hussain c Gilchrist b McGrath 0, N Fairbrother c Gilchrist b Dale 0, V Wells b Warne 23, A Hollioake c Gilchrist b Dale 7, M Ealham b Warne 12, R Croft not out 13, D Gough c Gilchrist b Julian 6, A Mullally lbw Warne 9. Extras (w1, nb3): 4.Total (all out in 31.5 overs): 110.Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-10, 3-10, 4-13, 5-43, 6-50, 7-72, 8-88, 9-100.Bowling: McGrath 6-0-26-2, Dale 10-1-27-2, Julian 6-2-18-2 (nb3), Waugh 4-0-23-0 (W-1), Warne 5.5-0-16-3.Result: Australia bt England by 162 runs.
